9 Personal Failings That Can Cost You Your Goal – Part 2

Setting goals is easy; achieving them is hard. Anyone can set the goal, “I make $200 000 per year in 3 years”. In fact, anyone can say, “I make $2 000 000 per year…” or even “$2 000 000 000 per year…” Saying (or writing) it is easy; it’s doing it that’s hard.

The question is never: can you SET the goal? The question is: can you ACHIEVE it?

In this series of articles, I share nine personal failings that can cost you your goal. Many people set goals but fail to reach them because they didn’t address one or more of these personal failings.

Personal Failing 2: Procrastination – Lack of Action

Countless people want to write a book or lose weight or launch a business or start a blog or record an album or get their degree—all great wishes—but because they don’t take action to begin the journey, they never reach their destination. They keep pushing back the start date and the day when they launch never comes. They procrastinate, and it costs them their goal.

They want to get from New York City to Paris, but they never step foot out of the house. They won’t get to Paris anytime soon, and everyone knows it. Gosh, they won’t even get to Newark.

Procrastination is a thief. It steals your dreams. It robs you of the great goals you would otherwise achieve.

Taking action is the way you move from a written goal to an achieved goal. “Action” moves you from goal-setting to “goal-achievement,” which is what you want. It’s the vehicle that takes you from start to finish.

Are you committed to doing the work your goal demands?

A lack of action is a personal failing that can cost you your goal. Your actions must match your intentions. Bold intentions demand bold actions.

Personal Failing 3: Distractions – Lack of Focus

You have a clear goal and are taking action to achieve it. Now, you must stay focus until you reach the finish line. In a world with an ever-growing number of distractions, this is no small feat.

In fact, the road toward your goal is paved with distractions. It’s a constant battle to stay on course and resist the seductive appeals of the many distractions that seek to entice you. They want a piece of your time and attention but don’t help you get closer to your goal.

If you succumb to these distractions, just like the Hare from the fable The Hare and the Tortoise, you’ll lose the race; not only that, but you run the risk of not even finishing it.

Another way you can fall prey to distractions is by chasing too many goals at once. As the Chinese proverb said, “The man who chases two rabbits catches neither.” Your secondary goals can become distractions that take you away from your main goal. They might be good goals, but your main goal is best; and in this case, good becomes the enemy of best.

If you spread yourself too thin, you won’t have enough to give to your main goal, and it will compromise your goal.

Eliminate as many distractions as you can from your life.

A lack of focus is a personal failing that can cost you your goal. Stay focused. To a great extent, achieving your goal depends on your ability to focus your efforts on it until you reach it.